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WEEK OF JANUARY 26

by Steven Kent

“Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are.”
—MN Gov. Tim Walz on X

This isn’t who we are, it’s claimed,
A claim we must revisit.
We’re terrorized, we’re shot and maimed:
This isn’t who we are . . . or is it?

by Greg Beam

Healthcare, housing, safer schools—small asks.
But they would rather pay for men in masks.

by Kaitlyn Spees

“Warming temperatures are forcing Antarctic penguins to breed earlier and that’s a big problem for two of the cute tuxedoed species that face extinction by the end of the century, a study said. … The Adelie and chinstrap penguins are specialists, eating mainly krill. The gentoo have a more varied diet. They used to breed at different times, so there were no overlaps and no competition. But the gentoos’ breeding has moved earlier faster than the other two species and now there’s overlap. That’s a problem because gentoos, which don’t migrate as far as the other two species, are more aggressive in finding food and establishing nesting areas, [biologists] said.”
—NPR

(With apologies to Herrick)

Gobble down krill hordes while ye may;
The time to breed’s approaching.
Does it seem earlier? It is.
And gentoos are encroaching:

The rocks on which you built your nests
In prior years are teeming
With other penguins’ eggs and young—
It ought to leave you steaming.

The whole damn globe is heating up;
It’s getting warm and warmer.
And to outlast your neighbor you’ll
Just have to outperform ‘er.

So eat your krill and lay your eggs;
Raise chicks that show distinction,
Since otherwise your species risks
complete and sad extinction.

by Bruce Bennett

“A new study describes the first documented case of tool use by a cow.”
—The Washington Post

Veronika will scratch her back
and stomach with a brush.
It’s clear she has a special knack,
but are we in a rush

To claim that she is smart like us,
since won’t it then be rude,
and even likely cause a fuss,
when we see her as food?

by Viv Priestley

“’They saw them on their dishes when eating’: The mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans”
—BBC

For Pat

This mushroom news should give us pause:
What other foods or drinks can cause
Consistent sights that aren’t there?

Could Diet Cokes and Big Macs be
The reason all our prez can see
Is “garbage” people everywhere?

by Chris O’Carroll

“He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full.’ … He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”
—White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to CBS staffers

Every blither, every slither,
Every new or vintage lie,
Every grievance, every defense
For the crimes he plans to try,

All his racist, sexist rants,
Rehashed slights that make him whiny—
You had best air every minute
Or he’ll sue your sorry heinie.

by Julia Griffin

“Greenland says red lines [on sovereignty] must be respected as Trump says US will have ‘total’ access to island”
—The Guardian

(With apologies to Blake)

And did some cheat in ancient time
Rob the US of Land that’s Green?
And does that weak, woke NATO squad
Still think their whines are worth one bean?

And did this new crusade of mine
Engulf the news with threats of drills?
And did Jeff Epstein’s name disappear,
With all those dumb, Transparent bills?

I should have had that prize of gold,
Just like Obama’s only higher,
Not secondhand and four months old;
But since you robbed me, feel my ire:

I shall not cease from spouting spite
At Danes who’d block what I demand,
Till we succeed in sluicing them
From Greenland’s should-be ICE-y Land.

by Dan Campion

“[P]eople sometimes ask why our comedy show is all politics now. I would argue that politics is all comedy now. The politics—we didn’t come to them, they came to us.”
—Jimmy Kimmel

The Ouroboros twists around
To swallow its own tail.
Our politics squirm on the ground;
How could they ever fail
To swallow their own rattles? Laugh,
To see the circle close;
But keep in hand a sturdy staff
To rap it on the nose.

by Steven Urquhart Bell

“How to pronounce Scotch whiskies like a true Scot”
—The Telegraph

Pronounce them like a true Scot would,
By drinking some and getting stewed.

by Marshall Begel

“Florida GOP candidate pushes a new ‘sin tax’ on OnlyFans creators… singling out OnlyFans creator Sophie Rain in a post promoting the idea.”
—WTF Detective

My friends, if chosen by this state
I promise I will pass
a tax that will eradicate
this deviant morass.

I understand the cyber minx
who peddles wanton vice—
for I’ve consulted countless links
and even watched them twice!

by Thomas Germana

“…[A] group of organizations has launched a Eurocentric social media platform as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X and other US-controlled services. As reported by CyberNews, the site—known as W—is designed around trusted sources, photo-identified users, and European hosting and control. … The two Vs in W reportedly stand for ‘values’ and ‘verified.’”
—PCMag

It looks like Musk is set to lose
A lot of little checks.
I guess this means that W’s
Another L for X.

by Marshall Begel

“Nintendo bans infamous Japanese ‘Adult Only’ Animal Crossing island. Creator says ‘Thanks for turning a blind eye all these years.’”
—Automaton

(With apologies to Ludwig Jacobowski)

Ah, the brilliant days we had
as lusty avatars—
ferocious beasts, ornately clad
for cyber-leather bars.

But now, they’ve sunk our isle of sin:
no orgies in the clover.
Smile because they once had been!
Don’t cry because it’s over!

Our stories now must turn the page
but don’t succumb to worries—
why, people almost twice your age
are joining groups of furries!